I am woman, hear me roar

As a general rule, I don't like birthdays - in fact I usually have a crap birthday which I think is partly because I have such high expectations when really it's no different than any other day.

Most birthdays I end up crying and I'm not even sure why sometimes. This year I broke the pattern and had a fantastic day with no tears. It must be because I'm now a mature and worldy person. This is the way I see the different phases of my life:

Teens - is about pushing the boundaries, making a few mistakes, having a great time with friends and evading the family as much as possible unless you need to borrow money.

Twenties - is about making more mistakes because you never learnt from earlier mistakes, enjoying being old enough to act like a grown up but still not really acting grown up, partying hard with friends and having brief moments of responsibility.

Thirties - is still about making mistakes but not quite as many, family has become all important and in many cases your friends will now come a poor second, life is about being money and time poor.

Forties - is about your children reaching the horrible 'teen years' and evading you as much as possible, you're resorting to making more mistakes to prove your worthiness, searching for the meaning of life now that babies and toddlers aren't your sole focus, you're being more selfish and having a little bit more 'me' time.

Fifties - is about silently laughing behind your hand as your children are challenged by their children, about spoiling the grandkids and then sending them home for mum and dad to deal with, good times spent with friends and with plenty of 'me' time.

Yep that's life in a nutshell for me - how close is this to your life? Please note: many of these life phases overlap and recur.

My brother, sister-in-law and nephew headed off at lunchtime today, off on their caravanning holiday. It was so nice that they come down and spent several days with us. They called into work on their way out of town and I took them on a tour of my new 'plush' office building. My nephew was a crack up having never been in a lift before.

Four weeks to go till we break up for the Christmas holidays - I'm so looking forward to a four week break, despite the reality that Thailand is well and truly off the agenda for these holidays. I'll keep pushing for hubby's next lot of holidays It's just a small matter of a few dollars to pay for it. Minor issues in the scheme of things.

I had phone calls, emails, facebook comments and text messages coming through from everywhere today. In fact, my mobile phone kept up a pretty continual silent jig backwards and forwards across my desk with all the notifications coming through. They started coming through just after 6 this morning and are still going.

What ever happened before we had social media? I guess we probably sent birthday cards by snail mail, or didn't bother because it was too hard. We might have picked up the phone, or even dropped by to say Happy Birthday in person. Facebook, emails, text messages - we've gained so much and lost some as well.

Me - I just loved the messages and well wishes that I got today. Thanks guys!

Cheers for now, Fi (mature minded 40 year old woman - chuckle chuckle)


Instead of a quote today, here are the first verses of a song called "I am woman here me roar" by Helen Reddy - yeah sing it loud, you know you want to

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to
I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman